Labelling nouns: A study of cohesive labels in research articles in English and Spanish

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to report on a descriptive-linguistic analysis of a group of nouns, here referred to as 'labelling nouns', based on a corpus of agriculture research articles written in English and in Spanish. Our aim is to analyze the main morphological, semantic, and pragmatic features of these labelling nouns, used as the head of cohesive labels, and to present a proposal for their semantic and conceptual categorization. Cohesive labels are nominal phrases used as connective resources that organize and give unity to texts by encapsulating and labelling textual segments conceptually, establishing intersentential links and textualizing the organizing and interpersonal function of texts (e.g. this complex process, la misma tendencia). The results indicate that labelling nouns are mainly verbal nominalizations, have general meanings, represent second and third order entities, can have a value component to communicate attitude and evaluation, and can be metadiscursive to organize texts. These features make labelling nouns central elements of cohesive labels in English and in Spanish.